Page 62 of Wicked and Bound

The auction proceeded with excruciating slowness. Nash’s nerves stretched tighter with each lot sold, each woman’s terror. Each minute that passed by without knowing when Black Velvet would appear or why he’d come. Nash thought of Haisley alone in their suite and prayed she wouldn’t need that gun.

Finally, Gray raised his hands. “Before we proceed with the special lots and our ever-popular breeders, I give you thegenius behind the Velvet Cove. The architect of all your darkest pleasures… Black Velvet!”

The house lights dimmed. A spotlight hit the curtain as a figure emerged—slim and graceful, wearing an elaborate black mask adorned with jet beads and obsidian. Gasps echoed through the crowd as one thing became absolutely obvious.

Black Velvet wasn’t a man.

Something about the woman’s petite figure and the way she moved about in her black, floor-length gown tugged at Nash’s memory. But he couldn’t place it.

Dread twisted in his chest as she took the mic from Gray’s hands and lifted it to her mouth. “My dear friends. Welcome to my sanctuary. Here, in the Velvet Cove, we’ve created something extraordinary—a place where men can embrace their truest nature without judgment or shame. Where the desires others call dark are encouraged and celebrated. Where power finds its purest expression.”

She glided across the stage, her black velvet sheath catching the light. “But there are those who would deny you these freedoms. Who would chain the mighty and worship the weak. Who would rob you of your rightful dominion.”

Nash gritted his teeth as appreciative murmurs rippled through the crowd.

“That is why we maintain absolute secrecy. Why we guard our paradise so carefully.” She paused. “And why we must be eternally vigilant against those who would infiltrate our ranks to destroy us from within.”

With a fluid motion, she removed her mask. Caramel hair fell in perfect waves around a face Nash knew all too well.

Mila Benedict.

Holy fucking shit.

She stood center stage, her smile razor-sharp. Unlike the woman he’d last seen in the Benedict Land Development’soffices, this Mila was neither nervous nor cowering. She was a viper ready to strike.

“Abort,” he muttered to Kane and Ethan as he leapt from his seat.

He had to get out of here, had to reach Haisley and find a way off this island before someone else came for her.

“Shit,” Ethan muttered, stumbling to his feet and following.

Kane was right behind him. “Too late!”

Their goddamn plan was falling apart. Nash tried not to panic.

Halfway up the aisle, the spotlight surrounded him. He froze. Now what the fuck should he do?

“Leaving so soon, Mr. King? Or should I say, Nash Scott?”

Fuck. He was outnumbered and, given the slew of armed guards lining Midnight Sanctuary now pointing their weapons at him, he was also outgunned. How the hell was he supposed to get out of this?

Kane’s voice crackled through his earpiece. “Now!”

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the compound. The concussive force slammed through Nash’s chest like a physical blow. Glass shattered somewhere in the distance, and the acrid smell of cordite filled his nostrils. The ground shook beneath his feet as secondary explosions triggered in rapid succession. Outside, screams erupted. Inside pandemonium hit as the lights flickered, then went out, plunging the room into complete darkness. In the chaos that followed, Nash had only one thought.

Haisley.

He had to get to her before Mila’s goons did.

Because if Black Velvet knew his real identity, then she knew exactly how to hurt him most.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

With a huff of frustration, Haisley smashed the button on the remote to turn off the TV and jumped up from the sofa. Chewing absently on a ragged fingernail, she paced.

Three hours—Nash had been gone that long. It felt like the longest three hours of her life. She was losing her mind, wondering what was happening at the auction, if the raid to take down the Velvet Cove was going down as planned. If Nash would come back to her safe and unharmed.

The alternative was too awful to contemplate, but no matter how much she told herself to stay calm, she couldn’t get that pit of dread out of her stomach. Couldn’t stop picturing all the terrifying things that could go wrong.

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